Workshop 3D modeling in archaeology

Next week, on Thursday the 6th of December the Digital Archaeology Group organizes the second DAG workshop of the academic year. Speaker of the day is Tijm Lanjouw, PhD at Leiden University, dealing with 3D modeling in archaeology.

In the last decade many digital 3D reconstructions of archaeological sites and structures have awed audiences. Almost every museum of antiquities displays 3D models of settlements or artifacts to educate the visitor. One could wonder if the models are made to simply impress and whether they add to our knowledge of the past. In this workshop we will work with 3D software, showing that 3D modeling can be considered a visual thinking tool that assists the archaeologist in the process of understanding archaeological remains and to develop, test and effectively visualize archaeological hypotheses.
In this DAG meeting we will briefly reflect on the history of 3D modeling and its advantages for the archaeologist. However, most of our time will be spend on getting some hands-on experience with the easy-to-use software Sketchup. Participants will get to know the basics of the software, learn some useful ‘tricks’ and develop a good idea of how to start a 3D project themselves. No preexisting knowledge is required!